Home Alone star rallies to singer's defence

Home Alone actor Macaulay Culkin on Wednesday said allegations Michael Jackson had molested him were "absolutely ridiculous" and that he had never witnessed any improper behaviour by Mr Jackson with anyone.

The former child star, now 24, was the first of what is expected to be a parade of celebrity witnesses in Mr Jackson's defence against charges of child sex abuse.

Mr Culkin is one of a series of boys named in the trial as having had close friendships with Mr Jackson. He testified that he had formed a bond with the entertainer in the early 1990s when the Home Alone movies made him one of the richest and most famous celebrities at the ages of nine and 10.

Mr Jackson, who started his own career at the age of five, understood the pressures of fame at a young age, Mr Culkin said. "We had a really close relationship. We kind of understood each other," he told the jury, describing the fun of water-balloon fights and visiting toy stores after hours.

Mr Culkin, dressed in a black pinstripe suit, said he had occasionally shared a bed with Mr Jackson during numerous visits to the singer's theme park-styled Neverland ranch. But it was never planned. "I fell asleep basically everywhere on that ranch. I would basically flop down anywhere."

He said nothing improper happened between them, adding that even if asleep "I think I would realise if something like that was happening".

"Did Mr Jackson ever molest you?" Mr Jackson's lawyer, Tom Mesereau, asked Mr Culkin.

"Never," he replied.

"Did he improperly touch you?"

"Absolutely not."

"Did he ever touch you in a sexual way?"

"No."

Last month a former Neverland cook told the jury he saw Mr Jackson with one hand down the front of Mr Culkin's pants while delivering a 3 a.m snack of French fries to the pair in 1991.

But Mr Culkin said this was "absolutely ridiculous... Nobody even asked me if the allegations were true".

Mr Culkin later conceded on cross examination that his lawyers and aides had earlier advised him not to speak to either prosecution or defence lawyers in the trial.

Mr Jackson, 46, has pleaded not guilty to charges of molesting a 13-year-old boy in February or March 2003, as well as plying him with alcohol to seduce him and conspiring to imprison the boy's family. Mr Jackson could face more than 20 years in jail if convicted on all counts.

Mr Culkin said he remembered some of the other boys who used to hang out with Mr Jackson 15 years ago, but said: "I've never seen him do anything improper with anybody".

Mr Culkin, who spent about an hour on the stand, was the third young man to take the witness stand this month and deny being molested by Mr Jackson as a boy.

The former child star has had problems of his own in recent years. He has struggled to establish an acting career as an adult, was married and divorced as a teenager, and was arrested last September on charges of possessing marijuana and anti-depression drugs without a prescription. He has pleaded innocent.